The present invention relates to moisture management systems for use over windows, doors and other building openings on buildings where so-called stucco covered, curtain type foamed siding is applied to the exterior of a building. Such moisture management systems inhibit the infiltration of water into the building at the top of such openings by providing a path for the potentially infiltrating water to take away from the surface of the building. This application describes an end dam useful in such moisture management systems for improving the effectiveness of such systems in removing moisture from prior art such systems.
The infiltration of water into buildings and other structures particularly at the top of windows, doors etc as well at the base of so-called stucco-covered, curtain type, foamed siding applied to the exterior of buildings is a constant problem in both new and retrofit construction.
The term curtain wall refers to a type of building construction in which an exterior non-load-bearing wall is supported in front of the structural frame like a curtain. Such wall structures, in some instances can be exposed to rain driven by winds, as high as 90 miles per hour in certain areas, and consequently are vulnerable to infiltration of wind driven rain as well as insufficient drainage of accumulated water from the area between the exterior curtain wall and the interior supporting shell of the wall construction.
Particularly vulnerable to infiltration of rainwater in this fashion are the areas over doors and windows and the lower extremity of the curtain wall where it meets the sill or foundation of the building.
The problem of infiltrated water can become critical where the wall area includes large window and or door openings and is often aggravated where water entering the wall cavity accumulates sufficiently to cause leakage into the interior of the building with resulting water damage. In some cases, water entering the wall cavity between the interior load bearing wall and the exterior curtain wall at window and door openings does not drain to the exterior of the building, but soaks through the wall portions causing structural damage and discoloration of the visible exterior portions of the wall.
Consequently, numerous designs have been proposed for moisture management systems and drip edges that either inhibit such infiltration and/or provide a means for conducting infiltrating water away from the opening in a safe and non-destructive manner.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,568,391 to Conway issued Mar. 9, 1971 describes a casing bead for stucco-covered curtain wall construction employing a joint including an elongate L-shaped casing bead and an elongate generally wing-shaped drainage cap member. The two joint components form a horizontally-disposed, structurally yielding joint between outer covering curtain wall sections that provides ventilation and water drainage between adjacent curtain wall panel sections.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,003,743 to Bifano et al, issued Apr. 2, 1991 describes another proposed track device for the installation of curtain wall type siding on structures that includes a flange arrangement designed to inhibit the infiltration of water, but no means to inhibit the conduct of infiltrated water away from the ends of the mounting device.
Vinyl Corporation of Miami, Fla. currently supplies a moisture management system for installation over doors and windows. This moisture management system comprises a generally U-shaped channel having a base including weep holes, front and rear upstanding walls, and a drip plate below the weep holes. The drip plate comprises a separate member welded parallel to the bottom of the base and having a cutout or recess below the weep holes in the base for removal of water passing through the weep holes. Various other somewhat similar but highly improved integrally formed designs of such devices also have been described and marketed to address the foregoing moisture management problems including some that include weep holes along the forward edge of the U-shaped channel to permit the removal of water therefrom.
In all of these cases, due to the necessity of providing a xe2x80x9cflexiblexe2x80x9d system, i.e. one that can be easily fitted to window and door openings of differing width, the terminal or horizontal ends of the moisture gathering generally U-shaped channel tracks or bottoms of such devices have been left open thereby providing an unimpeded path for moisture when present in sufficient quantities to infiltrate the exterior of the building at these points.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved moisture management system for installation over doors and windows on buildings utilizing a stucco-covered, curtain wall construction while maintaining the flexibility of width by providing a frictionally engageable end dam that is readily attached to the terminal ends of a moisture management system channel to inhibit the travel of moisture from the channel at these points.
According to the present invention, there is provided an integrally formed end dam for a generally U-shaped moisture management channel comprising: a vertical wall having a front and a rear surface and a base edge; a first flange extending at a right angle from the rear surface in the area of the vertical wall base edge and integrally formed therewith, and having a distal edge and a base edge; and a second flange having a base edge extending from and integrally formed with said rear wall, spaced apart from the first flange and extending angularly away from said rear surface toward said first flange distal edge. As described more fully below, the first and second flanges of the end dam of the present invention frictionally engage the base or bottom of a generally U-shaped moisture management channel causing the vertical wall to abut the side-walls of such a device to provide a means to arrest the flow of water out of the ends of the U-shaped channel.